Trades with Ilúavatar
by tt22123
Summary: Bilbo made a deal to sacrifice himself in order to save Thorin, Fili and Kili. When Thorin appears at Bag End to bring him back he encounters Frodo who explains all and is invited to live in Erebor. I know that Frodo wouldn't have been alive during the Hobbit so the timelines are very much smushed together to make this work. I do not own the Hobbit unfortunately. TW- Self Harm


Frodo wandered over to the green circle and opened it as someone began heavily knocking on the other side of the door.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where to find Master Bilbo Baggins?"

"I'm sorry. Were you part of the company?"

"Pardon my rudeness, I am Thorin Oakenshield." Tears grew in Frodo's eyes as he looked at the dwarf.

"He talked a lot about you, told me all the stories of the brave King under the Mountain and his company, the battles they fought to reclaim their home."

"Where is he?"

"He- he left me everything with the proviso that I leave the door and always open his home to any dwarves who may come knocking one day. Perhaps you should come in." Thorin followed the distraught hobbit through the home until they reached the room they had spent the evening singing in and took one of the offered seats. "He'd be glad it worked."

"What worked, where is my burglar?"

"He made a deal with Ilúavatar, if you and your nephews were brought back he could be taken in your place. He left Erebor firm in the knowledge that he failed but I'm happy it wasn't in vain."

"No. NO! My burglar wouldn't be so stupid. He can't be gone. Who are you!? BILBO! BILBO, COME OUT!" Thorin stood and was prepared to storm through the halls when he felt a tentative hand on his arm.

"He never stopped loving you. He didn't view his life as really living without you in it, he tried to pretend he was fine and happy for me but a hobbit only loves once and he thought his love had died. I'm sorry."

"You said he left you everything, who are you, you haven't answered?"

"Sorry, I'm Frodo Baggins. Nephew before you think he ran out on his son or anything stupid, although I was his adoptive son in a way since his return. His sister and her husband, my parents, died when he was on his adventure with you. I stayed with friends until he came back and looked after me as I was deemed too young. He knew the day was coming, he was only promised a year to the day after what he referred to as the battle of the five armies."

"I'm sorry for your losses."

"And I, you."

"Are- are you happy here?"

"I'm content, Bilbo left me enough to keep me alive."

"I didn't ask if you had enough, I asked if you were happy?"

"I miss my family, what can I say? I'm still considered a teenager in a hobbit's lifespan, I just have to get used to being alone and looking after myself. You only missed him by a few weeks."

"Have you not got any other relatives?"

"Not that would take me in, well other than a couple who would only do so in order to lay claim to all of Bilbo's things."

"You may not have willing relatives, but you have a family who will always be happy to receive you. You do not have to but if you wish you can return to Erebor with me, our doors will always be open to one of our own."

"I'm not my uncle."

"I'm not asking you to be, but he was family to us and therefore so are you."

"Do you mean it?" Thorin nodded sincerely. "I- I won't get in your way, I don't even have to stay in the mountain, I could find somewhere in the hills Bilbo told me surround the area."

"I would not invite you if I were then going to make you live alone there as well. The mountain would be perfect, it needs a hobbit."

Frodo surged forwards and wrapped his arms around the King's waist, "thank you, I don't want to be alone anymore." Tears fell from his eyes, wetting the heavy furs that Thorin was wearing as he held the shaking boy close.

"You don't have to be alone again, not ever, I promise. Come child, dry those eyes, your uncle would be attacking me if he were here for making you cry."

"No he wouldn't, happy tears."

"When do you wish to leave, what do you need to set up?"

"I don't want to lose Bilbo's home. I'll need to set something up to make sure I don't, otherwise it will all be auctioned off after a year on assumption of my death. Sam would probably be willing to keep the garden nice and pretend to come in here as if I were still here every so often if they won't make an agreement. I- Bilbo's things, some of them anyway, is there some way that I could take them?"

"No problem, I should be able to buy a cart or two to take everything back with us, the journey is less perilous since your uncle helped us. What would you like to take and I will load it in the carts I get while you get other bits sorted if you wish?" Frodo nodded before pulling back from the embrace and wiping away his tear tracks, letting out a deep exhale.

"Unless there are any hobbits looking to sell, I'm afraid the nearest will be in Bree."

"No problem, have you a pony?"

"Bilbo was highly allergic to ponies, I'm amazed you got him on one at all. I've never needed to use a pony, I don't exactly go anywhere."

"I shall head to Bree and purchase a couple for the carts and another for you then." Frodo went running off through the halls.

"WAIT!" he shouted before running back into the room with a small chest of gold. "Here, use this, it was what was buried in the Troll hoard, he got it on his way back as his share. Although I think he might have told me not to mention that fact as he gave over the Arkenstone as his share."

"Fool of a hobbit was your uncle."

"Yeah, but an honourable fool, the only time he has ever had to use the gold rather than his own money was when he returned to a completely devoid pantry and a child to look after. He'd think this was a good use of it."

"Keep it. I am King under the Mountain, even after giving others what they were due the halls are still flowing with gold. Give it to this Sam fellow as payment for his services of keeping your house going."

"You mean it?"

"We are going to live in a gold mine, there is plenty enough there for whatever you may want."

"Why would you do this for me?"

"I told you, Bilbo was family so you are as well."

"It isn't just that though, there's something else in your eyes."

"I would have asked your uncle, and you, to return with me where I hoped to make him my consort. I wished to be wed to your uncle, he was looking after you and I'd have been more than happy to do anything I could for you so I'm doing it."

"Thank you, I'll go see Sam this afternoon with my request and the chest. Don't suppose you know of anything to remove the smell of Troll from gold, that was the only thing Bilbo ever complained about really."

"I'm afraid the answer to that is no Master Baggins."

"Never mind, they're gardeners who use manure all day, bit of Troll smell will be overlooked in any case." Frodo turned away to put the chest back before stopping as realisation struck him. "I never asked, I just assumed. Your nephews, Fili and Kili, did it work for them too, did they return?"

"Yes, I got my family back, I'm just sorry it cost you the last of yours."

"It didn't, like you said, my family are all at the mountain. I'm pleased it worked, Ilúavatar only listens to the pleas of those who are worthy, I'm glad Bilbo was, and he will be too."

"Bilbo was worth all of us."

"No, worth is not deemed in a person's soul or something like that. You and your nephews were the ones who were worthy. He loved you three, and was loved in return, enough that you were traded. His love proved you were worthy of being saved."

"So if it hadn't worked, if Bilbo hadn't died-"

"He would have known that his love was not returned. He would have never gone back to the hobbit he was when I was younger, always running around with me and telling me adventures he went on to try and spy on elves and other magical creatures. He would have been pitied by adults rather than adored by children, he NEVER cared before what others thought of him until you, you and your company. When he woke up that morning and realised he was fading he knew what it meant. His final words were a demand of me, if any of the company cared enough to return for a visit, I find out if he made them proud. Other than me, you were the first person in his life who's opinion of him mattered in his mind, he knew he could rest easy if one of you, just one, could HONESTLY say that he belonged on that journey and made you proud, for he NEVER felt like he did." Thorin could tell from the shaking shoulders that the hobbit was once again crying and took a couple of steps forward. As soon as his boots sounded on the floor moving nearer, Frodo straightened his shoulders and walked out of the room with the chest, sinking sown atop it once he had placed it back in the hall. He hadn't realised that the footfalls had followed his until he saw the dwarf kneel down in front of him in his peripheral vision.

A large, calloused hand wiped the salty water from the other's face before looking him dead in the eye.

"I thought no one could ever make me more proud than my nephews do, but seeing that tiny burglar- it was something else. I couldn't imagine him ever being as strong or brave as he was after he told us his weapon of choice was conkers. I watched him and at times he looked scared but he never let the fear take over.

"When cornered by 3 trolls, my company were all begging and pleading with them while your uncle kept a level head through it and saved our lives. When I was about to be killed he came charging up with Sting, little more than a letter opener to us dwarves yet without him I wouldn't be here. He stayed calm and snuck around the Elvish halls to find a way to get us all out, while the rest of us sat in cages and did nothing. He went in an faced down a dragon with no idea of what to do because I told him to. He handed over the Arkenstone and saved me from the gold sickness, even though doing so meant I tried to throw him from the parapets. He left the safety of the mountain to charge through the battle, just to try and warn me that I had sent my nephews into a trap set for me and I was about to be run down with orcs.

"There wasn't a moment when I wasn't proud of him. Dubious, yes. Worried, definitely. Proud, ALWAYS. The only reasons I ever tried to send him away was because I wanted him safe. Every one of us owes our lives to your uncle Bilbo, my burglar, and every one of us is proud of all he did for the company to bring us our home." Frodo nodded as he exhaled shakily, a tiny smile gracing his lips. "Now that he's done that for us, let us go home."

The nod turned resolute as Frodo stood, nearly knocking the dwarf backwards and grabbed his coat. I'm going to see the town master then Sam, I'll come back for the chest between. Here, have his old key so you can come and go as you please while I'm not here."

"You should have his key, it's the one for the master of the house is it not?"

"And technically that is you. I'm still too young to be the master, Bilbo may have told the little white lie that you returned one night ill and so I wasn't alone in the house, there was a Dwarf Lord staying here. That makes you the master."

"I will never be in charge in your home. Thank you though, it is yours as soon as you come of age. How old is that of a hobbit?"

"33."

"And how old are you?"

"29."

"We have a lot of things to learn of one another."

"We have a LONG journey if what Uncle Bilbo told me was correct. I'll be back soon."

"Fly straight." Frodo disappeared out of the door with a run towards the master's house and Thorin was left standing in the halls he had only seen in merriment rather than the lifeless and almost barren state it was currently in. He wandered through a few of the rooms and spied the map they first had of Erebor at the start of the journey, along with a ink sketch of Bilbo and another of Frodo. A few handwritten books but he decided not to peak at those in case they were personal. He walked through the kitchen and reminisced of the song he heard them singing from outside, not willing to destroy the happy mood for a few more minutes. He noticed the pantry that had been restocked but with just over half the amount of before, although Frodo was a smaller hobbit. He walked to the dining room and stood where Bilbo was where first given the contract and smiled fondly at the poor hobbit fainting on the spot.

Finally he walked to the door and traced the rune on the outside before leaving for Bree, having written a note inside for Frodo to tell him where he had gone.

By the time he returned in the late afternoon, he found tea prepared on the table and several smaller items packed and ready to go.

"I'm afraid I couldn't move some of the heavier items myself so I made tea instead. I hope you like it, if not I can do something else."

"Hush little one, it is perfect."

"I'm actually tall for a hobbit my age I'll have you know."

"It was not a slight, it is a term of endearment we use for dwarvish children."

"Oh, sorry."

"You need not apologise. I brought us a couple of horse and carts as well as a pony that looked about the right size for you. We could pack up tonight and head out in the morning if you wish, assuming all of your affairs are in order."

"The town master agreed it would not go to auction if I sent a letter of proof that I was alive every year, if more than a year goes without word, they will resort to customs. Sam has promised to keep the garden looking beautiful and maybe even better with all the gold I gave him but I told him to spend it on himself and his family, not the garden."

"Anything else you need to do, any lasses hearts you still need to break?"

"I'm afraid it would be more of a laddies heart that I'd be breaking but even so, no there isn't." Frodo looked nervous as if expecting the offer of moving to be withdrawn as he revealed he was gay.

"Why not? I'm sure you could have anyone you wanted."

"Bilbo and I were very much the outcasts, it isn't exactly accepted of a hobbit to be that way inclined."

"It can't exactly be frowned upon in Erebor when their king was in love with a male hobbit and who knows what is going on with the Princes."

"I can't wait to meet everyone. Do they all live in the mountain? All the company that is."

"They do, although a couple probably won't be there when we get back as they were going to go off and collect their wives and children to bring along. They'll be back soon enough though."

"You, Fili and Kili were the main ones he spoke about, you were the ones he felt the loss of so his heart dwelled more."

"They'll certainly be there. Fili is meant to be running the place in my absence so we'll have to see how much trouble Kili has got him in."

"I can't wait to meet them."

"Just so long as you aren't also a trouble maker."

"Not making any promises."

"The three of you are going to make me go grey and bald within a year together, I can feel it."

"Probably." Frodo sent an easy smirk towards the Dwarf before returning to his tea while the room feel into a comfortable silence. It didn't take too long to pack everything of value into the carts ready to take with him and showed the dwarf to a bedroom he could use as they both turned in early for the next day.

Frodo was up first and cooking a hearty breakfast for two as Thorin walked into the room, stretching as he did so.

"There was no way that was a bed for a hobbit."

"Well no, when my parents died, he didn't just get left me, he got their money and everything else as well, minus a few items. That which neither of us thought was worth us keeping we sold on and he used all of the money from them to dig deeper into the hill, adding 13 bedrooms with Dwarf size beds, quite hard to come by in the Shire I must admit. Then if there was ever another gathering like before, you could all stay comfortably so you knew you would always be welcome in Bag End."

"He really was quite remarkable. The both of you are." Breakfast was quickly finished and they attached the horses to the carts and saddled to the other two, barely getting out of the road before Frodo shouted for them to stop and ran back into the house, grabbing a few books into a satchel and running back to Thorin again.

"Sorry, I'm ready."

"You sure, your uncle tried to make us go back for his handkerchief?"

"I'm sure. I'm ready. This bag has THE most important things I own in it. Nothing else would matter too much except this, the rest could be replaced mostly."

"What is it?"

"Bilbo's books."

"He had hundreds of books, they aren't all in there."

"No the ones he wrote. His journal of the journey and one year hence. The recount of the journey he wrote for publishing, minus a few details however. The stories he wrote that he would tell me as a child. The map of the Lonely Mountain, his treasured possession, along with the acorn he kept with it, although I never understood the acorn."

"He picked it up along our journey to Erebor and was planning to plant it in his garden when he returned, as a reminder," Thorin recounted with a fond smile at the memory.

Nigh on 6 months later the two men were passing through Dale, as Thorin had said, the journey was clearer now but he took the same route and regaled Frodo with the stories of what happened where. Not that he didn't know them but it was different hearing the Dwarf's side of the stories. The nights when they weren't moving they spoke more about themselves, getting to know the other, as well as stories about Bilbo that made Thorin laugh heartily at the craziness of his burglar.

As they approached the mountain there was a loud cry of "UNCLE!" before two bodies came running towards them down the pathway, barrelling into the dwarf who had dismounted so they all ended up in the floor.

"Am I right in assuming this is Fili and Kili?" Thorin nodded as the other two dwarves turned to face the intruder.

"And you're NOT Bilbo." Thorin sent him a smile before chastising the Prince's for their rudeness.

"Fili," said the blonde with a bow.

"Kili," echoed the raven-haired dwarf with a matching bow.

"At your service," they finished together while looking at the hobbit in curiosity and confusion.

"Frodo Baggins, at yours," he replied with the proper greeting as he two jumped off of the pony and straight into a bow.

"Where's Bilbo then, is he in the cart or something?" The youngest said, dismissing the hobbit in front of him but was stopped by Thorin placing a hand on each of the brothers' arms.

"Not now, gather the company." The two threw at curious glance at Frodo once more before beginning to return to the mountain, taking the two ponies so that Frodo and Thorin could deal with the carts. "I'm sorry for my nephews."

"Don't be. I'm not what they were expecting, it's only fair of them, they don't even know he's dead."

"Yes, that is why I've sent them to gather the company. So I can break the news to them all at once, do you want to be there?"

"Can-can I tell them about uncle Bilbo?"

"Certainly Little One, if that is what you desire. Let's go put the horses away and then the rest of the company can help unloading when we've told them." Frodo didn't reply just took a few steps prompting Thorin to start walking as well.

"What if they all hate me? Your nephews certainly seemed to. What if they think I'm trying to take Bilbo's place in their hearts or something? Or that I'm trying to be a smaller version of him? Don't get me wrong it would be an honour to grow up to be like him and have people love me like they did him, but I don't want to BE him."

"Hush Little One. They will love you. No one will believe you are trying to be him, after all, you jump on and off of ponies easily and don't complain about forgotten handkerchiefs."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm king, of course I am. And, well, if any of them are rude to you I'll just butt their heads together 'til they see sense." Frodo chuckled as he began untying the horse from the cart inside the stables, Thorin doing the same. Once both horses were able to roam Frodo grabbed the satchel from the cart he was pulling and held it tightly to his chest before following Thorin to the King's Hall to greet the rest of the company.

It was clear to Thorin that Frodo was nervous in their approach to the other's and turned to him before stooping to one knee in front of him.

"Relax child, nothing will happen to you. Don't come in if you are that scared."

"No, I've- I've got to do this for Bilbo. I just don't want them to hate me. To realise that I'm nothing special unlike Bilbo."

"I promise you, be yourself and you will be fine. I've known you for a few months and I love you like I would my own nephews. Let them see the real you and there is no way they could do so as well."

"Okay. I'm ready." Frodo threw his shoulders back and lifted his head as the two of them walked into the hall. Thorin sat down at the head of the table and Frodo stood near the door, unsure of where he should sit until Thorium indicated to the chair between he and Kili, an action that Frodo was grateful for as all eyes were on him. He walked over and tersely sat down before looking to Thorin for help on where to start, thankfully the Long understood what he wanted and have the boy a starter.

"Gentlemen, this here is Master Frodo Baggins. He is here to stay with us but first he had the solution to the mystery surrounding myself and my heirs' deaths and subsequent recovery." The company al faced him once more and he took a deep breath before beginning his tale.

"Ilúavatar seems people worthy by those who love them and if the love is returned. Bilbo was granted a year to set his affairs in order, you see, after the battle he made a deal with Ilúavatar. Thorin, Fili and Kili would live, if he gave himself in their place.

"He wasn't the same hobbit who left the Shire, he was brave but also broken for being away from this home and the people here. He believed his deal hadn't been accepted when they hadn't awoken before he returned to the Shire so he felt that the love he had for the company was not returned. He came home to find his sister and her husband had died, leaving him to look after me.

"He longed for this mountain and when he woke on the anniversary of the battle and found himself growing weaker, he hoped that meant his time with the deal was accepted and he had managed to save at least one of them. Either that or he just ran out of hope for success and lost the will to continue.

"I'm not legally old enough to live alone but he knew I'd survive. He didn't have to fight it just for me."

"Surviving isn't living though, you just lost your parents, then get sent to live with your uncle who just GIVES up within a year."

"DO NOT SPEAK OF BILBO LIKE THAT. YOU WEREN'T THERE, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HE FELT! I'D RATHER HIM DEAD THAN LIVING WITH THE MISERY HIS LIFE HAD BECOME! HE DIDN'T GIVE UP. He saved your King and your Princes, he didn't die for nothing, he died so that three may live." The hall was stunned into silence at the Hobbits outburst before he ran out of the room with the satchel, feet pounding against the stone as he ran through several corridors before tripping and staying down. He shuffled over to the wall and sat with his back against it as he opened the bag and began leaving through it for what he wanted, pulling out a letter opener he picked up (a hobbit one, not an elvish one).

Raising his sleeve he pressed the metal against the marred skin that resided there and pulled it easily through his tender flesh twice before pulling his sleeve back down and returning the implement to his bag, this time pulling out one of Bilbo's books. He sat on that same spot of stone reading through the stories from his childhood until he was found.

"There you are hobbit. Uncle was worried about where you'd gone off to, easy to get lost in the mountains for one who doesn't know their way." Kili walked towards the young hobbit but gained no reaction. "Are you alright Frodo?" he asked, still not getting a response, at least not until he placed a hand on the smaller's arm and felt him flinch as he hissed quietly.

Frodo tried to pull his arm back but the young Prince was both faster and stronger, holding firm to the appendage as he pulled back the sleeve, carefully unsticking it from the blood underneath. He drew his breath in sharply as he took in the two deep cuts amongst the myriad of silver and pink scars. Frodo looked up at the Prince's face in shock which quickly morphed into panic.

"Don't tell Thorin, please. Please don't tell him. He can't know, I don't want to sent away already. He can't know how broken I am."

"Hey, hey, hey, shh, calm down Frodo. He wouldn't send you away for this but I won't tell him anyway if you don't want me to. You've got to come with me though, so I can patch you up."

"I can do that. Just please, don't tell."

"I won't, I promise." Frodo and Kili stood and began walking once the hobbit had gathered the bag and the book. "What were you reading that held your attention so well then?"

"Bilbo's book. When he was younger he used to go running off on adventures all the time, though never out of the Shire until you lot came along. He wrote them all down as he grew up to read to his children but I was the closest thing he had to one. I was just reading some of his adventures from when he was my age, the things that he did."

"Sounds like a good book. Will you read me some while I tend to your wounds?"

"I- I guess. He'd like his stories being shared." As they neared Kili's room they spotted the dwarf from earlier who Frodo had shouted at and he visibly tensed.

"Dwalin," Kili called out, "find Thorin and let him know that I've found Frodo won't you. Just going to go to my room to share stories." Before the other dwarf had a chance to reply Frodo found himself being pulled into a nearby room, careful of his arm. He sat the hobbit down in his bed and moved to get a small chest from his drawers before returning to sit next to him. Frodo began to worry his lip as he looked around the room and Kili noticed instantly. He wiped antiseptic gently over the wounds after cleaning away all the dried blood and felt guilty for the way the antiseptic clearly stung. "What are you thinking about Little Raven?"

"Raven?"

"Yeah, your hair, it's black like ravens feathers. Don't avoid the question."

"I- how do you know he won't send me away if he found out? I'd send me away for being weak." Kili looked at the hobbit in front of him and turned the chest around while pulling his top above his stomach. Frodo saw the glinting blades within the chest and the scars across his belly, immediately understanding a bit more about the other. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you were weak."

"You don't turn to this because you are weak, you turn to hurting yourself when you have been strong for too long. That's what Thorin told me when he helped me get better. When he showed me his scars from when he was but a child watching his own grandfather fall prey to gold sickness. That's why he would never send you away for this, because he helped me get through it by understanding what I was going through."

"You still won't tell him though will you?"

"No, Little Raven, I promised not to. What happened to my story then? This will sting quite a bit so you may want the distraction." Frodo nodded shakily and began to read, flinching slightly each time the needle pierced his skin and pulled the thread through. Soon the wounds had both been stitched closed and bandaged over but Frodo finished the tale he had been reading while Kili gently stroked his knuckles and the exposed scars. As he finished Kili placed a soft kiss to the bandages before standing and pulling the hobbit up with him. "How about a mini tour, you look like you could do with some food and something to drink? The kitchens then your room? I'll help you unpack and everything."

"My stuff is all down in the carts."

"Nah, assuming Dwalin told him what I said, Thorin still have got everyone to carry the things to your room so they were ready for you."

"Oh. In that case food sounds delightful. I understood what Bilbo meant about travelling was a shock to a hobbit's system."

"In what way?"

"Oh, we eat 7 meals a day, your body has to get used to a lot less on the road. Unfortunately, even when you no longer need to eat the seven for your body to continue, the hunger remains."

"Why did Bilbo never say?"

"My guess is that he was in a hurry to get your home back that he didn't care to request extra stops just for him."

"You Baggins' are silly creatures. We would have made sure you were eating enough if it was said."

"Oh well, we survived."

"There's that word again, you aren't meant to merely survive Little Raven." Frodo smiled slightly and Kili took that as the end of the conversation so began leading the way to the kitchens. As Frodo sat eating while Kili spoke to him of his own adventures before that of the lonely mountain a angry looking Fili stormed into the room making Kili stand up between the other two as if protecting Frodo. "Brother."

"Don't you dare 'brother' me. Why is your chest out on your bed? I thought you were done with that. It's been years. We let you keep the chest because we trusted you, now I see we were wrong to. Show me!"

"It's not like that brother."

"Oh, it's not like that? Then tell me, what is it like? You just accidently tripped and got it out of the drawers, it fell open and you landed conveniently on a blade?"

"No, you can trust me Fili."

"I'm not sure I can Kili, this isn't excusable like nothing happened. You-"

"He stitched up my arm!" Frodo shouted over the arguing brothers.

"Frodo, no, stop, you don't have to." Kili said at the same time as Fili demanded he repeated himself.

"Yes I do. He doesn't trust you because of me. I've got to fix this. He had his chest out because he was stitching up the cuts on my arm. He wasn't hurting himself at all, rather fixing that which I had done to myself."

"Oh. I'm sorry Frodo," the dwarf sunk down onto one knee so he was the same height as the trembling hobbit, "I'm afraid I haven't made the best impression either time we have spoken. I'm glad my brother was there to help you but I am sorry for shouting at him for helping you. I'm sorry to you too Kee, I shouldn't have thought the worst of you, I should've trusted you." He turned his gaze back to the hobbit who he was still on his knee in front of. "Are you alright Little One?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you do it?"

"I- I made someone doubt Bilbo, I made them think he was just running away from his responsibility to me. Then I ran out, Bilbo would never have done that so I had to add the second cut."

"Bilbo lives on in ALL of our hearts. You do not have to be him, you have to be yourself."

"But people actually liked Bilbo, he had friends, people who cared."

"People like you too. You have friends, people who care."

"Yeah right."

"Well I'm pretty sure you've made a friend in my brother, and if I did not scare you away, I would love to be your friend. Then there is Thorin who definitely cares about you an awful lot."

"You can't tell him about this!"

"He should know, he can help." Frodo turned to Kili in fear and panic, pleading for his help.

"No Fee, I promised, Thorin doesn't find out about this. Not unless Frodo decides to tell him. Okay?"

"Oh fine, agreed. Think about it though Frodo?"

"Umm, sure."

"Thank you," the older brother placed his lips to Frodo's forehead before standing once more and hugging his brother tightly. "I really am sorry I didn't trust you Kee. I should've known that you would have had a good reason for getting it out again after so long."

"For the first time in a long time I have wanted to. The thought that Bilbo is dead because I'm alive was agony and I thought about doing it once we had found Frodo. Then when I did find him, I thought otherwise." Kili pulled back from the hug to look between the other two. "He left Frodo here alone so that we might live. The least I could do was honour him by looking out for his nephew. I was stitching you up, Frodo, and I realised that I wanted to help you as a friend and I wouldn't be doing so by squandering your uncle's sacrifice."

"You should have talked to me Kee."

"I know. I didn't want you to think less of me though."

"I wouldn't-"

"No offense, but you already did. Now, I was about to show Frodo to his room and help him unpack, then in the morning give him the full tour."

"Would you like some help?"

"That is down to Frodo."

"I - I don't want to be a burden, I'll be fine."

"You aren't a burden Frodo. I offered."

"I- thanks. I'd like that."


End file.
